Today in History 12-27

Friday

Today is Friday, Dec. 27, the 361st day of 2013. There are four days left in the year.

Today is Friday, Dec. 27, the 361st day of 2013. There are four days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Dec. 27, 1927, the musical play "Show Boat," with music by Jerome Kern and libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II, opened at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York.

On this date:

In 1512, King Ferdinand II issued the original Laws of Burgos, which were intended to regulate the treatment of indigenous people on Hispaniola by Spanish settlers.

In 1831, naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a round-the-world voyage aboard the HMS Beagle.

In 1904, James Barrie’s play "Peter Pan: The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up" opened at the Duke of York’s Theater in London.

In 1932, New York City’s Radio City Music Hall opened to the public in midtown Manhattan.

In 1945, 28 nations signed an agreement creating the World Bank.

In 1947, the original version of the puppet character Howdy Doody made its TV debut on NBC’s "Puppet Playhouse."

In 1968, Apollo 8 and its three astronauts made a safe, nighttime splashdown in the Pacific.

In 1970, the musical play "Hello, Dolly!" closed on Broadway after a run of 2,844 performances.

In 1979, Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Am, who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal.

In 1985, Palestinian guerrillas opened fire inside the Rome and Vienna airports; 19 victims were killed, plus four attackers who were slain by police and security personnel. American naturalist Dian Fossey, 53, who had studied gorillas in the wild in Rwanda, was found hacked to death.

In 2007, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated during a suicide bomb attack in Pakistan following a campaign rally.